The Alchemist At It Again! 21st Century Racism.
Just a few hours after a video went viral, over a bouncer, denying entry to a Kenyan, in what seemed to be a racial discrimination scenario, at a popular hangout joint in Nairobi, the management has refuted the claims.
In a statement, the management of Alchemist bar and restaurant, in Nairobi's affluent Westlands neighborhood, says that they are committed to serving all and sundry, with no racial discrimination whatsoever.
Photo Courtesy: Captain Tenacious
However, this is not the first time, the joint has been on the spot over racial claims. In 2018, a customer claimed that a bouncer stopped her from sitting at a particular chair, reserved for white people and Kenyans of Asian descent.
At the time, the owner Peng Chen, the husband of former Kenyan news anchor, Michelle Morgan, was quick to apologize to the public, in what seems to be a replica of the same now, with Kenyans taking it as a common PR stunt.
The racism debate is a matter of global concern, and such an incidence, as trivial as it looks, seems to have elicited a huge conversation across the continent of Africa.
If the owners of such a popular joint, who by birth are not Kenyan, have dissociated themselves and condemned the incident, does it mean the blame lies on the bouncers and workers at the place? Are they not following orders and the philosophy of how the premises should be managed?
Such an incidence in a broader perspective is not new. Kenyans on many occasions have been very docile and allow foreigners to feel more at home than
them. It is witnessed every day across all sectors, from health to sports, nutrition, entertainment, fashion, and politics. Anything that has a white man's stamp on it gets immediate credibility, while locals are shortchanged, by their very own. In the 21st Century, it's a shame!
It explains why we still have Kenyans with I STAND WITH UKRAINE slogans in their social media bios, because we have been turned into the narrative that it's a cool thing to support what is foreign, yet we have children being shot dead in Kerio Valley, but you'll see no I STAND WITH KERIO VALLEY. Height of insolence!
In 2018 when the infamous Chinese man called the Kenyan president a monkey, he saw the wrath of the nation and was quickly deported. How about we shift our attention to ourselves as Kenyans, are we racing against ourselves? Are we the ones idolizing foreigners while discriminating against our very own?
Photo Courtesy: Captain Tenacious
Before we start thinking of boycotting the Alchemist, let us examine deeper the magnitude of this matter. Nyashinski would say in his popular song, "Tujiangalie".
Photo Courtesy: @ISOClicks
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